Related

Harvesting trees, replanting seedlings and constantly regrowing our forests for future generations has always been a foundation of our economy. And it will be even more so in 2035.

Forestry is an industry that has built entire B.C. communities, created millions of jobs since Confederation and created the wealth through employment and exports that makes British Columbia one of the best places in the world to live and raise a family.

It is also an industry that has shown remarkable resilience throughout the history of our province. Whether it faced economic depressions, recessions or the cyclical market downturns that can shut mills and devastate communities, B.C. forestry has always survived and thrived.

As we look toward 2035, there’s no doubt the business of sustainably growing and harvesting our forests will continue to be a dominant industry, one that offers young British Columbians well-paying and exciting jobs for their future.

The proof for this optimism is both in the hard numbers but also in the forestry industry’s proven ability to respond to shifting markets. The last fast few years have demonstrated this beyond doubt.

It has been a perfect storm. The mountain pine beetle infestation has devastated wide swaths of the province’s northern forests, meaning a sharp reduction in supply in that region for many years ahead. That has coincided with a historic collapse of the U.S. housing market, sharply cutting demand for B.C. lumber products in our biggest market.

But is forestry a sunset industry, where the good jobs are a memory, as some suggest? Hardly. Just consider the numbers, even after enduring this staggering downturn.

Forestry still supports approximately 160,000 direct and indirect jobs in B. C. It represents five per cent of provincial GDP, 30 per cent of provincial exports and has generated nearly $1 billion in provincial tax revenue last year and $15 billion over the last decade.

Those are big numbers. And they are going to get dramatically larger as we move toward 2035. The reason is that during our perfect storm, B.C.’s forestry industry has done what it always does when the times get tough — innovate for the future.

The B.C. forestry industry is really a global industry with a global perspective. It knows it must have the right products to meet the export demands and works relentlessly to do so. Our success is evident in China.

B.C. producers, with the help of provincially run trade missions, spent much of the last decade attempting to convince China’s government and construction industry officials that wood is an environmentally friendly and earthquake-safe building material. It was an uphill battle, but the diligence paid off just as U.S. demand for B.C. wood products was collapsing.

In the last five years, B.C. forest product exports to China have soared to over $3.1 billion, from $850 million in 2006.

Exports of forest products to China as a percentage of total B.C. exports quadrupled from 2.5 per cent in 2006 to 9.5 per cent in 2011.

British Columbia is now an established player in the world’s most dynamic marketplace.

Being immediately adjacent to the U.S. will continue to be a competitive advantage in the future. Our largest trading partner is expected to come out of its housing slump in the next few years, resulting in renewed demand for B.C.’s softwood lumber. This means forestry will be a strong generator of jobs as we move into 2035.

It would be a mistake, though, to see our forestry workers as old-style hewers of wood. Forestry has become one of the most innovative and science-driven sectors in the province, where some of the most exciting professions and skill-demanding jobs will be found. And they will be strengthening the economic stability of entire communities.

Our trees are not simply two-by-fours to export. In a world concerned with climate change and the exigencies of housing a soon-to-be nine-billion-person planet, forestry jobs are increasingly centred on making our B.C. forests part of the solution for economic and environmental sustainability.

To be sure, there will be jobs in the important work of harvesting and sustaining our forests. But there will also be jobs in pushing the envelope of what’s possible in wood design and architecture — even the possibility of highrises made of wood products instead of steel.

There will be jobs in research and development, to find wood-derived chemicals and additives to be used in everything from food to high-definition TVs. Jobs in developing biofuels and energy systems are waiting to be filled. Young British Columbians will be world leaders in discovering and marketing these exciting new byproducts of wood.

Challenges remain, of course.

To thrive in our global marketplace, B.C. must remain competitive. We need to keep corporate taxes low, we need to ensure the move back to the PST does not add costs to our exports, making us uncompetitive. We must continue to partner with government to develop new markets, as we did with spectacular results in China.

We can do all those things, I believe. And if we do, we can safely update that famous line from The Graduate when Dustin Hoffman is told, “There’s a great future in plastics.”

For the next generation of British Columbians, the future is wood.

John Allan is president of the Council of Forest Industries.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Forestry’s future: a favourable forecast

Video

Business Videos

Best of Postmedia

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ignore the diversions in the United States: athletes kneeling or standing during the national anthem; Republicans flailing and failing again on health care; a kick-boxing creationist possibly becoming senator from Alabama. Calamity looms elsewhere. We are hurtling toward war with North Korea. It may be as early as next month. […]

It wasn’t in the middle of a farmer’s muddy field or deep in the boreal forest where the Canadian oilsands truly struck pay dirt. It was inside Fort McMurray’s recreation centre. More than 1,400 oilpatch workers, corporate executives, provincial leaders and the country’s prime minister assembled 21 years ago in northern Alberta to grasp a […]

Google’s powerful search engine is defeating some court-ordered publication bans in Canada and undermining efforts to protect young offenders and victims. Computer experts believe it’s an unintended, “mind-boggling” consequence of Google search algorithms. In six high-profile cases documented by the Citizen, searching the name of a young offender or victim online pointed to media coverage […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.